The ones I listen to... #1

As announced in my previous text, in the following ones I will write about artists who inspired my musical work and whose music I enjoy listening to. Although I already wrote of him quite a lot, I must start with my biggest influence in music. This is, of course, Vangelis. It’s difficult to single out someone among many musical greats I appreciate and admire. However, Vangelis embodies everything I seek and love in music and art. Recently I came across a documentary on the Internet entitled “Vangelis: The Best Composer of the 20th Century?” Although I still haven’t managed to watch it, I would remove that question mark from the title. If you ask me, there is no doubt about this.

It’s difficult to say what inspires me the most about Vangelis. This is, first and foremost, his timeless music but also his creative process, attitude toward art, as well as his life philosophy.

Vangelis is a triumph of honest and uncorrupted talent over academia, audience, and the music industry. He was a very humble artist who discovered music and art in his way, free of any outside influences and pressure. Fame, recognition, and money were never the motives and goals that led him on his musical journey. In his case, all this came by itself. Vangelis is one of the rare true artists who were fortunate enough to receive adequate recognition during their lifetime, even though they never accepted the “rules of the game”.

Another aspect I appreciate in Vangelis is his all-aroundness. He was not only a composer but also a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer, capable of creating the final product completely on his own. This set him apart from many artists from his era and the past. Vangelis is considered to be one of the pioneers of electronic music and the way of making music that is quite customary these days. However, in the early 70s of the last century, this methodology was quite uncommon and unusual. Some say that this attributed to Vangelis’ success almost as much as his beautiful music.

Speaking of music, the thing that undoubtedly attracts the attention of the listeners the most are the simple and singable melodies that characterize Vangelis’ works. This was quite different from most of the electronic music artists who emerged in the same period. While those tried to showcase the power of technology in their music, for Vangelis, technology was merely the means of working alone in his way.

Vangelis’ musical opus is very large and diverse. I have most of his instrumental works in my collection, starting with those from the beginning of the 70s, up until his latest releases that came out just before his death. To any music lover, I would certainly recommend the legendary compilation “Themes”, originally released in 1989., which includes the most important pieces by Vangelis created between 1970. to 1990. Another one worth looking into is “Portraits” from 1996. that also adds more recent works and a few rarities.

Vangelis continued to create and live music his way up until he died in 2022. He was one of the last true artists and talents. His music and life philosophy will forever remain a priceless legacy and a source of inspiration to anyone who truly appreciates music and art.